African presidents create $87 mln emergency fund to fight Boko Haram

Gabon's President Ali Bongo announced the creation of the Fund to fight Islamic millitant group, Boko Haram. PHOTOS: wikimedia

"My counterparts from the CEEAC and I decided to create an emergency fund of 50 billion CFA francs ($86.72 million) to fight Boko Haram," Gabon's President Ali Bongo, who attended the one-day summit in Cameroon, said on his personal Twitter account.

The insurgents have killed thousands and kidnapped hundreds in a five-year insurgency in northern Nigeria, and have recently intensified cross-border raids on neighbouring countries in the Lake Chad area.